Watch SpaceX Nearly Land A Rocket On A Barge

They say the line between genius and a multi-million-dollar flaming mess in the Atlantic Ocean is razor-thin.

The Vine of this afternoon's attempt SpaceX put out shows what looks like a successful landing — the rocket touches the barge, in the correct orientation, and not going 600 miles an hour. But apparently, the lateral motion on the barge was too much, and the rocket keeled over. Fourth time lucky?
http://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/588142879245238273/photo/1

http://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/588082574183903232/photo/1

Well, that's a hat trick! For the third time this year , SpaceX attempted to launch a Falcon 9 rocket and autonomously land the first stage portion on an unmanned barge. And for the third time this year, that (very expensive) rocket crashed and burned.

Elon Musk gave the official, albeit disappointing, announcement on Twitter:

Solo: A Star Wars Story was released one year ago this weekend—and in that year, it changed Star Wars in ways that have nothing to do with the Force. It changed how one generation views Star Wars versus the other.